Once Upon A Time Nursery

Storybooks, planting and outdoor climbing shaped Once Upon A Time Nursery's character at its February 2025 inspection. At its 27 February 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged it Good overall, while identifying a need to tailor teaching more precisely to children's readiness and assess the effect of staff development. That combination matters: there is substantial practical learning here, alongside a clear teaching priority for families to explore.

Based in Maltby, Rotherham, the nursery accepts children from birth to five and has 89 places in total. Sweet Pea Baby Room, Ladybird Older Babies/Younger Toddler, Buttercup Toddler 2 and Butterfly Pre-School organise the progression through those early years. Parents can choose morning, afternoon and several day patterns, rather than having to build their childcare around one fixed day.

Rooms and Ages

Sweet Pea Baby Room covers birth to 16 months; Ladybird Older Babies/Younger Toddler takes children from 16 months to two years three months; Buttercup Toddler 2 follows from two years three months to three years; and Butterfly Pre-School serves children aged three to five across two rooms. These stages give families a useful way to picture the move from baby care towards preschool, with an intermediate group for older babies and younger toddlers.

The day has physical substance as well as room names. In February 2025, babies explored soil while planting and manipulated home-made play dough; older children assembled detailed collages and experimented with drawing and painting tools. Those examples show how hands-on experiences can become more demanding as children develop coordination.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care, with play providing opportunities to develop language, physical skills and understanding of the world. Here, the February 2025 curriculum drew on children's interests and observations of their development, with animals and seasonal changes helping to extend their experiences.

Books supplied more than listening time. In February 2025, babies explored textured pages and flaps, while older children acted out stories and planted seeds linked to a tale. Fiction and factual books gave children different ways to explore ideas: handling, imagining and doing, as well as hearing words read aloud.

Language also ran through ordinary activity. During that same month, staff echoed babies' sounds, talked alongside children's play and used rhymes and songs. These are concrete ways to give a child words for what they are doing, rather than reserving language learning for a separate group activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

In February 2025, the outdoor areas included substantial structures for climbing, crawling and sliding. Children practised managing the risks involved in using them, making outdoor play an opportunity to exercise judgement as well as their bodies.

Stay and Play brings families into nursery activity every term, while an annual Graduation party marks children moving on to school. The first offers parents a shared experience of nursery life; the second gives children a recognised ending to their time there.

Relationships and Communication

Famly connects the nursery day with home. Parents can see food and nappy-change records, receive photographs and videos of learning, exchange messages with staff and handle invoices through the app. It combines practical care updates with a view of what a child has been doing, which is more useful than a payment account alone.

Parents evenings, a parents committee and information shared when a child starts provide further routes for communication. In February 2025, staff used parents' knowledge to shape babies' routines and select learning around children's interests. That makes the relationship useful to the child's day, beyond keeping adults informed.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described SEND support that identified developmental difficulties early, set individual targets, involved parents and speech and language therapists, and used additional funding to address children's needs. These findings give families a concrete picture of the support assessed at that time, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

All staff have paediatric first-aid training. In February 2025, reassurance included praise, affectionate responses and comfort, while children practised considerate behaviour and taking care of themselves. Personal care and growing independence therefore featured alongside learning activities.

Food is cooked at the nursery each day, with menus changing by season; Eat Better, Do Better provides guidance on helping young children eat well and learn about food.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 70 High Street, Maltby, Rotherham, S66 7BN. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year. The telephone enquiry route is 01709 818836, and the contact form accepts a message alongside contact details.

Morning Session runs from 8am to 1pm and Afternoon Session from 1pm to 6pm. School Day covers 9am to 3pm, while Full Day choices run from 8am to either 4pm or 6pm. An Early start from 7.30am to 8am can extend the beginning of attendance. The distinction between opening hours and booked sessions matters: the standard day options begin at 8am.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15/30 hours per week during term time, or stretched provision across the year at 11 hours for the 15-hour entitlement and 22 hours for the 30-hour entitlement. Funding routes include low-income families with children from two years and working families with children from nine months, subject to eligibility codes. Additional private hours can be purchased.

Paid session packages offer different food inclusions, while meals during funded attendance are separately charged and optional, with families who opt out supplying their child's food after discussing arrangements with management. Monthly invoices are handled through Famly, and Tax Free Childcare payments are accepted. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Teaching that fits the child. In February 2025, some activities introduced letter recognition before children were ready, and questioning did not consistently extend their learning. On a visit, ask how staff now choose an appropriate next step and assess whether training improves children's progress.
• Moving between rooms. The progression includes Ladybird Older Babies/Younger Toddler between Sweet Pea Baby Room and Buttercup Toddler 2. Ask how your child's readiness, settling and familiar relationships shape those moves.
• Choosing the food arrangement. Packages with different meal inclusions sit alongside optional meal charges for funded attendance. A written quotation should match the chosen session pattern and food arrangement, so the two decisions can be considered together.

Once Upon A Time Nursery suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as different day lengths. Termly Stay and Play and Famly offer complementary ways to stay involved: one through shared activity, the other through everyday care and learning updates.

The strongest picture is of practical, story-led experiences and structured communication with parents. The February 2025 teaching priority deserves attention alongside those strengths, especially for families interested in how staff judge when a child is ready for a new skill.